


You wanna go?

by TopShelfOfficial



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cuz I usually do Kallura so I thought I'd mix it up a bit, F/M, First time being this graphic have mercy, M for safety, Slow Burn, background lotura, by far the spiciest thing I have ever written
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:28:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27518383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TopShelfOfficial/pseuds/TopShelfOfficial
Summary: Somehow their sporadic series of wagers had turned into a genuine friendship. And then something else happens.
Relationships: Lance/Pidge | Katie Holt
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	You wanna go?

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what happened. I blame this on watching too many specific YouTube couple prank videos. You'll know the one I mean.

The first time she talked to him was after his legendary Promposal from Junior year. For all intents and purposes, the odds of her being at a Highschool Basketball Game, or any sporting event period, were so miniscule to the point of absurdity. However, the only person she'd come close to calling a friend, had insisted that she come along, as he was member of the team and he needed moral support for his first game. She's never been any good at making friends, so she had thought that she better make an effort, especially considering that most people in her grade weren't willing to befriend the nerdy girl that had skipped freshman year but not hit puberty. Perhaps, if she had known that Hunk was not so much a player as a manager before being dropped off by Matt, then she might have begged off anyway. Alas, here she was, observing a sport like a regular High School Student. She could feel her Pep-levels rising by the minute! 

She tried to be present for the first--Quarter? Section? Inning?--but before long even the appeal of studying movement for the purposes of improving on her robotics projects was overthrown by general tedium of the sport. The most enthusiasm she could muster was some polite golf claps every time their team scored. Mostly, she just focused on some light coding assignments she had brought along. Which is exactly how Hunk found later.

"Please don't tell me you've been coding throughout the whole game."

"Sorry, I tried. I really did, but there's only so much investment I can give when I literally don't know anybody on the team."

"What about me?"

"You're not a player."

"A good team is a reflection of a good manager, Pidge! Their victory is my victory."

"Uh huh, is this your way of deflecting the fact that you totally deceived me?"

"Hey, I didn't set out to deceive you, you came to your own conclusions. It's not my fault you didn't ask follow-up questions."

"Dude."

"Look, I just want you to broaden your horizons."

"Now you sound like a Guidance Counselor."

"I'm being serious. I never see you hang out with anyone outside of Robotics club. There's more to life than academics. I don't want you to burnout before senior year, you're to young for a mid-life crisis. Hell you're too young for a quarter-life crisis!" 

"I think you are overthinking this. Besides, I've got non-academic interests. Like Video Games, Comics, the odd Anime. Uh...Memes?"

"And do you have anybody to bond with over those interests?"

"Ma..."

"Your brother doesn't count." 

"You...?"

"Come on Pidge. We've literally never discussed any of those topics. Besides, I am more of a table-top RPG guy. Which you would know if you ever took me up on my invitations to hang out."

"For the last time, I can't just make friends with everybody like you Hunk. I'm barely friends with you, and we at least share an interest."

"That's why I am trying to help you. I know for a fact you have something in common with our team captain."

"And what's that?" 

"You both have a relative that's graduated from GGU."

"So?"

"So, isn't that interesting? I'm surprised you don't know him. His foster-brother is Takeshi Shirogane. Didn't he pilot most of your dad's missions?

"I've only met the guy once, that's not enough to know his family tree. Do you know the names of the relatives of every foodie you've collaborated with?"

"I do as a matter of fact. I send them personalized care-packages for their birthdays every year."

"Of course you do." she mutters.

"Look, I know making friends can be a little daunting. But take it from one gifted child to another, having some good friends can keep grounded when tensions get high."

"What if I'm not cut out for friends? What if I'm a sociopath? I was never able to make any friends back in Middle School, why should now be any different?"

"Because back then you didn't have me."

This actually makes her smile at him. Though at times a bit nosy and overbearing, Hunk was the most sincere person she's ever met, and her pervious schooling experience might have been somewhat more tolerable if she'd known him back then. 

"Besides, if any of my friends are sociopaths, my money's on Keith. Don't tell him I said that."

"Your secrets safe with me. Mostly because I have no idea who that is."

"He's the Team Captain, remember?"

"I don't know why you think that's helpful."

"The intense guy with the chin length hair."

She looked towards the court, and sure enough, a boy fitting that description was having a heated debate with whom she assumed was the coach. As predicted, she didn't recognize him, but for some reason his name sounded familiar. 

"OK, so I know what he looks like now. Is that supposed to mean something?"

"It means, you at least know who one of the players are so you can be invested."

She sighs in defeat before conceding. "Fine, I'll pay attention for the rest of the game..."

"The game's been over since before this conversation started."

"I'll pay attention at the next game." she amends as she finally notices that apart from a few people still milling about, everybody else seems to be clearing out if they hadn't already left. "Wait a second. If the game's over, why are we still here."

"Oh yeah, that's the other reason I wanted to talk to you. I really didn't want you to miss this."

"Miss what?"

The answer becomes apparent when lights suddenly shut down. As the spotlight hits some guy from the swim team rappelling himself down from some ribbons in some kind of elaborate choreography, it occurs to her why Keith's name had sounded familiar. During some of the lulls within Robotics club, Hunk like nothing better than to regal her with the exploits of himself and his circle of friends. Of his tales, the one that seemed most recurring would be the antics of his brash friend Lance, of which his pathetically one sided rivalry with Keith seemed to be the most notorious. Even without having seen the guy before, she immediately knew that anybody who would put together such an elaborate routine could be none other than Lance Serrano, himself. Whatever she might have thought of him before, she has to admit that he doesn't do anything by halves. Apart from his already bombastic entrance, the performance ends up including among other things, sparklers, jugglers, Confetti/Glitter dispensers and the marching band playing a cover of some KPop number, complete with some cheerleaders acting as backup dancers for the Grand Finale. All this to ask Allura Leon, Head Cheerleader, Senior, Valedictorian, and all-round Campus Princess, to Prom. 

"...I'm sorry, but no." Only to be flat out rejected. 

"Oh, well...This is awkward."

"Please, don't take this to heart. You're very sweet, and you worked very hard on this, and if the circumstances were different, I probably would have said yes..."

"Probably?!"

"However, I'd already agreed to go with the Captain of the Basketball Team."

"Keith asked you out!"

"Hey! Keep me out of this!" The one in question protests.

"I actually meant the Captain of the other team." Everybody looks towards, a young man with Legolas Hair approaching Allura, observing the remnants from Lance's performance a look that Pidge could only describe as 'Smug Detachment.' 

"Huh? But, you literally just met him."

"Actually, I met him at a Model UN tournament about two months back. We've been in contact since, and are pretty much going steady now."

"...I guess I can't argue with that."

"Ah Lonce,..." She says empathetically as she put her hand on his shoulder in consolation. "I'm sure some girl was impressed by your efforts. I'm certain you will have no problem finding yourself a date."

"Thanks, I guess." he somehow answers, in a tone that's straining to sound upbeat.

Allura is seemingly satisfied with his response, as she happily leaves that court on the arms of her equally modelesque boyfriend. This seems to be the cue for what remaining spectators there were to make their own exit. Beside her, Hunk hisses in sympathy for his friend, and honestly Pidge can't blame him. 

"Hey, I'm going to check up on Lance, but do you want me to get you home after?" 

"No, that's fine. Matt's picking me up."

"But it's really no problem for me." 

"You know, I would love to take you up on that offer, but my parents have strict rules about me hanging out with people they haven't vetted."

"I thought I was vetted already."

"You are, but he isn't. And seeing as he's your best friend, you're probably going to want to take him out for comfort food or something."

"True, but I was going to drop you off first."

"Do you really want to be the one to tell Matt that I blew him off to hang out with two sixteen year old boys, of which one has literally had his heartbreak publicly witnessed and could therefore be unpredictably volatile?"

"I mean, it sounds a lot more shady when you put it that way."

"Take care of your friend, Hunk. He clearly needs you more than me." Hunk looks at her uncertainly, but ultimately runs down to join his downtrodden bestie. She as she observes them have a whispered conversation, she expects them to leave together, however to her surprise and eventual mortification, Hunk winds up leaving by himself. And just like that, only her Lance and the Janitor are left in the School Gym. She texts her brother to ask for his ETA, but as if the universe in conspiring against her, Matt seems to be caught up in traffic and apparently won't make it for another 20+ minutes. The horror. 

In the hopes of ignoring the awkward situation, she tries to get back to her coding. However, it is hard to ignore Lance as he's exuding the combined aura of starving puppies and little kids that have dropped their favorite ice cream. It's impossible to ignore his pain. Even the Janitor, who should be pissed at him for creating more unnecessary work seems to pity him. She checks to see if there are any updates from her brother, but to her dismay barely five minutes have passed since his last message. It dawns on her that in order not to drown in the boy's misery someone would have to cheer him up, and the Janitor is clearly not willing to step up; The coward.

With no real plan of action, which is a state she really doesn't care for, she makes her way down from the bleachers. She tries to think of a feasible way to comfort him, and as she remembers how Matt would usually go about making her feel better, the beginnings of a plan begin to form in her mind. It's by far not her best, but she's clearly out of her depth here. When her feet finally touch the hardwood panels, she discovers that the basketballs have already been locked away. She's about to panic that her shaky plan is dead on arrival, but when she finds a ball that one of the jugglers must have dropped, she decides to improvise. Once she discovers that the ball is suitably bouncy, more deliberately. In a few steps she's finally reached Lance, would just been listlessly drifting at the halfway point, if that's what it was called, oblivious to her approach. Channeling the kindness of Hunk, and the encouraging nature of Matt...

"Bet you can't make the shot." She says as she holds out the ball to him, completely failing at displaying either trait. To her credit, it does seem to startle him out of his funk. 

"...Who are you? Why do want me to throw this into the basket? This isn't even the right kind of ball for this. Wait, what are you still doing here? Did your parents leave you behind by accident? Do you need help?"

"Irrelevant. Because I'm bored. Also irrelevant. My ride is stuck in traffic. No and also no."

"Wha....?"

"So are you going to do this or not?"

"Look, kid, I don't have to do anything. You might not know this, but I'm not even on the Basketball Team."

"Probably cause you can't make the shot."

"OK, you know what? Give me that sucker." He grabs the ball out of her hand, highly incensed by her quip. "Better step back, little man, I'm about to blow your mind." She follows his request, although she's confused by the fact that he seems to be under the impression that she's a boy. Sure her looks aren't classically feminine, especially after her chemistry experiment mishap forced her to get that drastic haircut. But it has grown out a little since, and her voice was still pretty high. But then she remembers that a. She's wearing Matt's hand me downs because it's laundry day, and b. She bought a cap with the team mascot in a last ditch effort to display 'Team Spirit' so she just shrugs and decides to go with it. After all, she doesn't intend to leave a lasting impression on him. Among all of Hunk's friends, he's the least likely one to be compatible with her. 

After what feels like an eternity of bouncing the ball around, he finally throws the damn thing. And it arcs down a inches in front of the basket.

"...Mindblowing."

"That obviously didn't count, I was just testing out the ball."

"OK..." She agrees in monotone, and watches him huffily pick up the ball and return to his earlier position. When he throws it this time it actually manages to hit the backboard.

"Look, this ball was intended for this kind sport so it's going to take a while to adjust to it." he explains himself before she even has a chance to make a sardonic comment. And thus a pattern develops. Lance takes a shot, the ball comes close but doesn't quite go in, he makes up excuses frantically as stomps his way to pick the ball up again, and Pidge just watches. Repeat ad nauseum. Finally, after maybe his 40th attempt he finally sinks the shot.

"Boom! In your face, shortstack!"

"I guess you proved me wrong. It took over three dozen tries, but you did it eventually."

"OK, smart-ass, if you think you can do better, why don't you give it a try?"

"No, thanks."

"What? You can't just back out now!"

"I'm not backing out of anything. I dared you to make a shot, you exceeded my expectations, and now we're both happy. I never said anything about competing against you."

"What, are you scared you'll do worse than?"

"Terrified. Ball Sports are the bane of my existence. I go into shock if I so much aim something spherical for competitive purposes."

"...Your messing with me, aren't you."

"Looks like your hand/eye-coordination aren't the only thing that's improved."

"Listen, you little gremlin, I don't have to put up with..." His tirade was interrupted by her text alert.

"Well, considering my ride is finally here, you won't have to put up with me anymore at all. How about that?"

"Seriously? Your just going to leave without explaining yourself?"

"What's there to explain? My ride was running late, and I was bored, because watching your sad-sack routine is not as entertaining as you think."

To her amusement he actually gasped.

"Plus it made for an interesting study in trajectories. I also figured if you did make it, you could probably use the win."

"God, your the most annoying boy I've ever met, and considering I know Keith Kogane, that's quite the accomplishment!"

"Then the fact that I'm a girl must make this feat even more impressive." Pidge couldn't help but snicker at his expression morphing to the human equivalent of a 404 screen. In fact, Matt was surprised by how chipper she was after he had left he stranded at one of her least favorite locations at High School. She couldn't really help it, as much as her opinion on her incompatibility with Lance had not changed, she couldn't deny that she had somehow enjoyed winding him up. She was actually looking forward to Hunk recounting the incident from Lance's perspective. To her utter disappointment, Hunk never brought it up.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm pretty sure I have read a version of this fic before, or at the very least the premise sounds familiar to my subconscious. But you know that saying about fanfic being like cake, so here's more cake.


End file.
